Friends in Unlikely Places
by unofficialfansie
Summary: Despite being born about 4,000 years apart, Nicky and Ahkmenrah soon find they have a lot in common.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

 **I have no other explanation for why this exists other than I was watching the first Night at the Museum for the first time in about 3 years and this idea came to me and wouldn't leave me alone.** **It takes place right after the first movie.**

Nicky darted down the hallway next to the Hall of African Mammals, his sneakers slapping the ground in time with his heavy breathing. Dexter chattered mockingly as he raced ahead of Nicky, clutching a piece of paper tightly in his fist. As they rounded the corner and neared the Egyptian exhibit Nicky could see that he was closing in on Dexter, and he grinned in triumph.

Suddenly, a figure came out of nowhere and loomed in front of Nicky, only a few feet away. Nicky frantically tried to slow down and move out of the way, but it was too late. Dexter easily skirted around the man, but Nicky slammed into him and fell to the ground with a thud.

"Nick! Are you alright?"

Looking up, Nicky could see that he had slammed into Ahkmenrah, who was now looking down at him in concern.

Nodding, Nicky slowly picked himself up off the ground. "Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry I ran into you."

"It's quite alright, no harm done," Ahkmenrah said, smiling reassuringly. "May I ask where were you going in such a hurry?"

"Dexter stole my homework," Nicky answered, sighing in exasperation as he gestured down the hallway to where Dexter was holding his homework high in the air while grinning, clearly gloating.

Ahkmenrah considered the situation for a moment, then began to walk down the hallway towards Dexter. Nicky followed close behind him, unsure what the pharaoh was planning on doing.

Ahkmenrah approached Dexter slowly, then calmly held out his hand. "Dexter, please return Nick's homework."

Dexter's grin faded, and he let out a stream of chatter which sounded like complete gibberish to Nicky, but which Ahkmenrah clearly understood at least some of because he shook his head and gave Dexter a stern look.

"It isn't yours and it's important to Nick. Give it back."

Dexter looked stricken for a moment, before begrudgingly handing Nicky's homework to Ahkmenrah.

"Thank you, Dexter," Ahkmenrah stated. Dexter didn't respond, he simply took off down the hallway and disappeared around the corner.

Turning to Nicky, Ahkmenrah handed him his homework.

"Thanks, Ahkmenrah!" Nicky exclaimed, grinning happily.

"You're welcome, and please, call me Ahk," Ahkmenrah answered, returning Nicky's grin.

"Okay, Ahk," Nicky agreed.

They stood in silence for a moment, Nicky feeling too awkward to say anything else. He hadn't really spoken to Ahkmenrah since they got the tablet back from Cecil a few weeks earlier, and as a result felt much shyer around him than he did around some of the other exhibits.

Finally, Ahkmenrah cleared his throat. "Well. You should probably finish your work."

Nicky nodded. "Yeah."

"I'll let you get started then," Ahkmenrah said, turning and beginning to walk away from Nicky, his cape swirling behind him.

Nicky watched him go, then glanced down at the half-finished page of math problems. "Wait, Ahk?"

Ahkmenrah turned back towards Nicky. "Yes?"

Nicky looked down at his feet, then back up at the older boy. "Do you know how to multiply fractions?"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Larry was making his nightly rounds, checking that none of the exhibits had gotten into too much trouble since the sun had gone down.

As he passed by the Egyptian exhibit he heard the sound of Nicky's voice, which surprised him. Last he checked, Nicky had been in the security office finishing his homework.

Approaching the entrance to the exhibit, Larry eyed the jackal statues warily. When they made no move to stop him from entering he hurried past them, curious as to what was going on.

When he entered the tomb, Larry saw (to his surprise) Nicky sitting next to Ahkmenrah on a bench in front of the open sarcophagus, both bent over what appeared to be Nicky's homework.

"So, 8/13 times 1/8 equals 1/13?" Nicky asked.

"Yes," Ahkmenrah confirmed as Nicky scribbled down the answer.

"I'm finished!" Nicky exclaimed triumphantly, grinning. "Thanks again, Ahk!"

"Of course," Ahkmenrah nodded, smiling. Then, they both looked up and saw Larry standing in front of them, watching.

"Hey Dad, Ahk helped me finish my homework!"

"I can see that," Larry confirmed, smiling slightly.

"I hope you don't mind, Larry," Ahkmenrah said, a little hesitantly, but Larry shook his head.

"I don't mind at all, not as long as Nicky learns something."

Nicky grinned, then jumped up excitedly. "Can I go ask Teddy to give me a ride on Texas now?" he asked, waving his homework around as he spoke.

"Sure, as long as you put your homework in your backpack first," Larry said, turning to leave and continue his rounds.

Nicky hurried after him, eager to put his homework away and start a night of fun, but he suddenly paused in the entrance to the exhibit and turned to look back at Ahkmenrah. "Hey, Ahk?"

Ahkmenrah looked up at Nicky, surprised to find him still standing there. "Yes, Nick?"

"Do you know anything about US history?"

Ahkmenrah chuckled, shaking his head as he stood and walked over to Nicky. "I'm afraid my knowledge of the United States is lacking in some areas, Nick. Might I suggest asking Teddy for help?"

Nicky smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

 **A/N: Well, there's that. As you can probably tell from my username, I don't usually write Night at the Museum stuff, so I have no idea where I'm going with this. If you guys have any suggestions/comments, they would be most appreciated**.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

 **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story so far! It means a lot to know that someone besides myself enjoys this story. This chapter is considerably shorter than the first one (sorry about that) but I hope you guys like it anyway!**

"Hey Ahk?"

"Yes?" Ahkmenrah looked up from the book he was reading to see Nicky standing in front of one of the walls of his exhibit, studying the hieroglyphics which covered it.

"What's this supposed to be?" Nicky asked, gesturing to a particularly large image of a man who appeared to be playing some sort of game.

"Senet," Ahkmenrah answered simply, setting his book aside and coming to stand next to Nicky.

"What's Senet?" Nicky asked, a confused look on his face.

"One of the oldest board games in the world," Ahkmenrah answered with a hint of pride in his voice. "Invented thousands of years ago by the Egyptian people."

"Oh," Nicky said, taking one last look at the hieroglyphic before turning away. "Okay."

Ahkmenrah studied Nicky's expression for a moment, then smiled at him. "Would you like to play it?"

Nicky looked up at him, surprise written clearly on his face. "Really?"

Ahkmenrah nodded. "I believe there is a game board somewhere around here, it will only take me a minute to find it."

Nicky nodded, and enthusiastic grin creeping onto his face. "Okay, that sounds like fun!"

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"So, how do you play this?"

About 10 minutes later Ahkmenrah and Nicky had successfully located a Senet game board which they had placed on the floor in front of his sarcophagus. Nicky was seated on the floor across from Ahkmenrah, bent over the board and studying it with the same concentration as when he had been studying the hieroglyphics earlier.

"The goal is to move all five of your game pieces off of the board before your opponent. To do this, you first throw the Senet sticks," Ahkmenrah said, holding the two-toned wooden sticks up as he spoke. "The number of sticks which land on the side painted the lighter color represents the number of spaces you move your piece. If all four sticks land on the dark side, then you move five spaces."

"What do the symbols mean?" Nicky asked, gesturing to the squares on the board which had different hieroglyphics written on them.

"They mean that certain actions can or cannot take place on those squares. For example, you can swap places with one of your opponent's pieces during your turn, but if your opponent's token sits on the square with the picture of the ankh then their piece is safe and cannot be swapped."

"What about the squares with the bird, the water, the dots, and the eye?" Nicky asked.

"All pieces must stop on the square with the bird, even if their turn would have moved them past it. If a piece lands on the square with the water, it is sent back to the square with the picture of the ankh. The last two squares are also safe spaces, so the pieces on those squares cannot be swapped."

"I think I get it," Nicky said, though his eyes were still filled with confusion and his voice was hesitant.

"It is much easier to understand once you try playing it," Ahkmenrah said, smiling reassuringly at Nicky. "Why don't we start, and we can see how you do?"

"Okay." Nicky nodded. "Bring it on."

 **VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"I win," Ahkmenrah announced, grinning happily.

"Come on! That's your fourth time winning, you've gotta be cheating!" Nicky exclaimed, his voice filled with frustration.

"I swear, I am not cheating," Ahkmenrah stated sincerely, though his eyes still twinkled with happiness and the satisfaction of winning once again.

"Then how are you so good?" Nicky whined, watching as Ahkmenrah reset the board for another round.

"I have been playing this game for much longer than you, Nick. I am thousands of years older than you, after all."

Nicky groaned and rested his head on his hand, looking thoroughly disheartened.

Ahkmenrah smiled comfortingly at Nicky, patting him on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's try again, and see how you do."

Nicky hesitantly reached for the Senet sticks, eyeing Ahkmenrah. "Promise you won't go easy on me?"

Ahkmenrah shook his head, looking Nicky in the eyes with a sincere expression. "I promise, Nick."

 **A/N: A quick historical note, Senet is a real game invented by the ancient Egyptians which is still played today. It's a lot of fun and I was really excited to include it in this story. Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter, as well as share any suggestions you have for what I should do in future chapters!**


End file.
